The world’s largest show dedicated to green buildings is about to get even bigger. “Half of all of our new LEED projects are happening outside of the U.S.,” said Kate Hurst, vice president of community advancement, conference, and events for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which produces the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, owned by Informa.“The demand for green buildings is expected to double every three years, according to the World Green Building Trends 2016 SmartMarket Report.”

USGBC is determined to help meet that demand, so this year the organization is expanding Greenbuild — which has been held in the United States all but one year since launching in 2002 — into India and China. “We’re looking to meet our members and our users where they are,” Hurst said, “and so that’s what’s driving this expansion to these international shows. We want to ensure our constituents have an opportunity to convene and discuss best practices and learn about new green- building trends.”

Emerging economies like China, India, and Brazil — where Greenbuild has already been hosting a show in partnership with High Design Expo since 2014 — are “starting to become major centers for green growth,” Hurst said. “The volume of green buildings in India is actually expected to reach 20 percent of all of their buildings by 2018, and that growth is driven in part because of their environmental regulations. People are demanding healthier neighborhoods, and from a philosophical point of view, people believe it’s the right thing to do.”

In India, Greenbuild will partner with another show — ABEC — in Mumbai on Nov.2–3. “It’s a 300,000-person show,” Hurst said. “We’re the only group providing content within that larger show framework. We’re looking to attract 1,000 attendees to our full conference content.” In China, Greenbuild will be hosting an expo independent of any partnerships in Shanghai on Oct. 17–18. “We’re looking to attract between 500 to 1,000 attendees,” Hurst said, “for this first year.”